Wrestling with Stress
by Sheankelor
Summary: Tyrek was on leave, Barton decided to play God, and Severus' plants are paying for it. He needs to find Harry another way to relieve his stress that doesn't include his potion ingredients. HP/SS EWE Written for Lilyseyes.


_AN: Written for Lilyseyes as a thank you for writing a drabble for me. I didn't succeed in keeping this down to 100 words, so we have a few more here than that. She gave me the prompt of "Stress Relief". This is not quite my normal take... _

_Wrestling with Stress_

"Put. The. _Potion. Ingredient. _Down." Severus glared at Harry until he lowed the small cutting that was just planted that morning and set it on the freshly turned earth. "Now, out of _my _ garden and onto the porch."

Sighing heavily, Harry brushed the dirt off his jeans, and stomped on to the porch, returning Severus' glare full force. "I was just trying to help."

Severus raised an eyebrow at the clipped tone. "What is going on, Harry? You never touch my garden, much less when you get home for work."

Sighing hard, tension visible flowed out of Harry's shoulders before he answered. "Barton..." He heaved another sigh before he continued. "You know that Tyrek is on leave, has been for the last week and still has one more to go." He didn't wait for Severus to acknowledged that he did know before he continued. "He left Barton in charge of the Department." The name was spit out almost like a curse.

"And what has Barton done that has stressed you out this much?"

"He decided that we were getting too comfortable, too used to where we were at, too adjusted to our partners."

Severus raised an eyebrow at the last one. As an Auror, your partner was someone you were supposed to be adjusted to, someone you knew well enough that you could predict what they were going to do in whatever situation you ran into.

"So, he decided in his infinite wisdom," the sarcasm on that coated the last word was thick enough to cut. "Barton decided to mix things up for a while. If you were working the murder cases, you are now working security detail at a book signing. If you worked business licenses check ups, you could now be hunting for black market potion dealers. AND to make your life that much more interesting, you get a new partner to do this with. Whom you may or may not have ever met." Harry clenched his hands, his frustration building just by talking about it. "Of course, the people taking over the section take over all the open cases."

"I take it you are no longer working on cracking the illegal potions rings, and that Jackson is no longer your partner." The mirthless laugh answered Severus' question, but Harry gave a verbal one as well.

"Oh, no. I am working with Tabitha Tabell - wonderful ward caster and curse breaker. She was supposed to be working with Gringotts today and yesterday to test their defenses. They specifically requested her. Of course Barton has her with me, checking up to see if Fortesque remembered to update its business licenses, and that the building is up to code. Not that either of us remember what all the codes are. She left about mid-day to go let the Goblins know what happened, and never came back. Berta Jimenez did instead. She normally does the building inspections, and was sent to Gringotts by Barton." Harry rubbed his forehead, warding off a stress headache. "Berta and I decided that this was not something that need to be brought to Barton's attention."

Severus nodded and gestured for Harry to proceed him into the house. "How are the others doing?"

Harry shook his head. "Not good. The ones that took over my cases just don't have the connections that my partner and I do, just like I don't have the connections that the aurors who do the job I am doing have. Sure, they might see something different, from a different angle, but they are going to see less of the picture because they aren't getting the other clues. Just like I'm not." He stopped in the living room and spun about, shaking in aggravation. "I was stopped in the Alley two days ago by one of my contacts. He was wondering why I deserted the case and them to a bunch of incompetents. I explained to him what was happening. I just hope that we'll be back were we need to be when Tyrek gets back."

Searching green eyes for a moment, Severus made a decision. "Come on, we are going out. Let me grab a bag, and you might want to change into a clean set of Muggle clothes. We'll be having dinner out."

At Harry's raised eyebrow, Severus strode off to their room to change as well before getting the bag he wanted. He tossed a few extra items into it while Harry changed.

"Where are we going?" They were on the porch once again, and Harry laid a slightly calmer hand on Severus' arm.

Severus quirked one side of his mouth into a grin before Apparating them away. "Here," was his answer when they appeared in a small alley.

Harry threw him a glare before striding out of the alley. Severus passed him as he walked out.

"We are heading over to that building over there."

Harry watched as a true smile filled Severus' face. "What are we doing here?"

"Relieving stress." Severus opened the glass door and had Harry through before he had a chance to read the signs.

"Snape!" Mike Masters crossed the room grinning like mad.

"Masters." Severus nodded a greeting towards him.

"Hey,you going to be here for a while?" The muscular brunette continued before Severus could answer. "I have someone I need you to go against. His head is getting a bit big, and I think you would be just the one to show him that."

Severus looked back at Harry for a moment, before returning his attention back to Masters. "Most likely. Is one of the back mats free?"

Masters looked at Harry and then back to Severus before nodding. "The far corner, the one away from the showers. So, maybe after you finish helping this young man? Yancy is going to be here in about fifteen. He has a match arranged and then he normally takes on who ever wants to challenge him."

Severus narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. "If I accomplish what I set out to do, then yes."

Gesturing at Harry to follow him, he headed for the free mat, marking it as taken before going to change.

O-o-o-o

Harry stood on the side of the mat, uncomfortable in the skin tight shorts and shirt that Severus gave him to change into. "What are we doing?"

He had looked about as they walked through what he now knew was a gym, but he had never seen anyone working out like this.

Severus beckoned Harry onto the mat. "We are wrestling. Actually, I am wrestling, and you are trying to defeat me using any physical means possible. You are going to imagine that I am Barton and then you are going to do your best to teach him a lesson.

Harry's eyes widened as he connected several dots. "You are a regular here... You... you came here during the war, didn't you?"

Severus nodded. "And I took down many Voldemort substitutes a number of times. It took you to make real one stay down, though." Making sure his head protection was on and holding his hair securely out of the way, he sank into a half crouch. "Now, come at me."

Harry looked at the mat, the red circles drawn on it making him wonder what they were for. "I don't know anything about wrestling."

"You don't need to, not today. If you want to learn, I'll teach you later, at home where we can wear the traditional garb." A warm gleam filled Severus' eyes before he continued. "For now, your objective is have me fall – to pin me – hold both of my shoulders to the mat for a couple of seconds while I am on my back."

Harry moved to the center of the mat and mimicked Severus' position. "So, you are Barton?"

Severus nodded, waiting to see what Harry would do. He half expected the Gryffindor to charge at him. A grin curled his lips when Harry did just as he thought, and tried to knock him down. It allowed him to use a simple one-two technique – he caught Harry's wrists and then using his shoulder, pushed Harry towards the mat. His grin broadened when Harry succeeded in getting away before falling. This was going to be fun.

For the next half hour, Harry attempted to put Severus down. He actually succeeded once or twice, but he was positive that he broke a number of rules along the way.

Pushing his sweaty hair back from his face, Harry laid on the mat staring up at the ceiling. "I now know how you stayed in shape while teaching. I just have no clue where you found the time."

Severus settled on the mat next to Harry. "Whenever I could sneak out, whenever it became too much."

Harry rolled his head to the side, and took in the view that greeted him. He could learn to appreciate the tight shorts and shirt that seemed to be the wrestling uniform. "Are you going to teach this Yancy a lesson?"

"Are you calmer?" Severus searched the relaxed face.

"Yes, and now I really want to see you take someone else down for bit. It would be far more enjoyable than you continually doing it to me."

Standing, Severus offered a hand to Harry. "Then let's find Masters and let him know I am warmed up."

As they walked across the gym, Harry did his best not to stare at the play of Severus' muscles, but it was tempting.

Masters meet them near the front mats, his attention completely on Severus. "Will you be able to challenge Yancy?"

"What's his category?" Severus' eyes darted about, trying to pick out the wrestler in question.

"He is a senior as well-a younger one, he wouldn't qualify to be a veteran like you." Master directed them over towards the mat with a group of spectators. "He is over here."

The three of them worked their way through a small crowd to the edge of the mat just as a muscular blond pinned another man to the mat.

Another man was lying on the mat and his hand shot up in the air.

"Its over." The blond hopped up and grinned at the crowd. "Whose next?"

Severus watched as the equally muscular red head pulled himself back to his feet before walking off the mat. Scanning the crowd, he noticed that most of these men were in the upper weight class, where as he was in the one right below it. It could make a small difference, but not a new one. He now understood what Masters wanted him to do. He want him to do his specialty, take down one of the big ones.

Stepping on the mat, Severus nodded towards the blond. "I'm willing to take you on."

Yancy stared at the slightly taller, and much thinner man. "Are you sure? I don't think you are in my class."

"Makes for a interesting challenge, doesn't it." Severus smirked and moved further onto the mat. "Which style do you want? Greco-Roman, Free-style, MMA?"

"Free-style." Yancy didn't notice the gleam of satisfaction in the dark eyes of his opponent, but Harry did.

Both men settled into a starting crouch, and once again Severus waited to be rushed. Sure enough, Yancy attempted a headlock, which Severus avoided, and then the show started.

Harry watched as the two men became an almost tangle of arms and legs. A small part of him was worried for Severus since Yancy was obviously younger and heavier, but he couldn't quite forget the gleam in Severus' eyes. It was the same one that filled them right before Severus took you down either with words or a hex. He noticed that Masters and two other men were watching the match carefully, one of them was even getting down on the mat when ever Severus or Yancy was on their back on the mat. It took almost three minutes, but Severus succeeded in turning Yancy over and then pinned both of the blond's shoulders to the mat.

Standing, Severus offered Yancy a hand up. "Good match." With a final nod, he strode off the mat.

Harry could almost see the robe billowing around Severus as the man joined him on the mat side. "Shall we get cleaned up? You promised me that there was a dinner to be had around here someplace."

"Thinking with your stomach still. I thought you out grew that." Severus headed towards the showers, the crowds parting to let him through.

Harry strode after him. "Hey, you are the one that forced me to do all this exercise."

Masters watched Snape walk away before looking at the stunned expression on Yancy's face. _'Good, that took him down a level or two. Now maybe he will realize that he still has something to learn."_

"Who was that?" Yancy looked over at Masters. "He never said his name."

"His name is Snape."

"When will he be back?"

"No telling."

o-o-o-o

Harry strode into the house a week later, looking for Severus. He finally spotted him leaving his lab. "Tyrek is back!"

Severus took in the happy expression that was on Harry's face. "Did he correct Barton's mistakes?"

"Yes, he did." Harry's smile illuminated the room. "We have a lot of ground to make up, but at least the cases weren't ruined."

"So, does that mean you no longer want to learn how to wrestle?" Severus called over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen to check on the roast.

Harry grinned as he caught up with him. "I looked up the traditional garb, or rather lack of it." His eyes swept over Severus, remembering the ripple of muscles from the gym and their more private activities. "I'm up to learning if you are willing to teach me."

Severus pinned Harry to a nearby wall and kissed him soundly. "You will have to learn to focus on the moves, on winning, not on the sweat slicked skin under your hands, or the feel of my hands on your bare skin. Do you think you can do that?"

Harry slide his hands down Severus' back to his hips and pulled his even closer. "I'm willing to give it a try, how about you? Can you do it?"

Dark eyes shone with the challenge. "I willing to try, as well."


End file.
